The disclosed embodiments relate to a medical device. Specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to a pusher guide wire for delivering a stent stored in a catheter to a target site, and a delivery system comprising the pusher guide wire.
A conventional method for delivering (carrying or conveying) a stent to a target site involves storing the stent in a distal end portion of a catheter in a state in which a pusher guide wire is disposed within a lumen of the stent, advancing the catheter to the target site, and then pushing the pusher guide wire in the distal direction to release the stent to the target site through the distal end of the catheter.
For example, Japanese Patent No. 4574131 discloses a system for delivering an expandable stent. The stent includes a core shaft; a proximal columnar member covering a proximal portion of the core shaft and fixed to the core shaft; a middle columnar member covering a central portion of the core shaft at a position distal to the proximal columnar member; and a distal columnar member covering a distal portion of the core shaft and fixed to the core shaft at a position distal to the middle columnar member.
However, in the delivery system disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4574131, when the pusher guide wire and the stent pass through the inside of a curved blood vessel, the curved pusher guide wire may disadvantageously press against the stent and the catheter, preventing the advancement and rotation of the pusher guide wire or causing the stent to bend.